screwed

35

"Neither of them are answering," Penelope sighs as she walks in to Emily's hospital room. The brunette was admitted quickly, and the nurse had just finished helping her change into her hospital gown and hooked up to the monitors. She was sitting in the bed, trying to stay calm.

"Just keep calling, they have to be here," Emily insists.
"You're right, they'll get here," Penelope smiles and grabs her hand. Just then, her phone vibrates. "Ah! It's Mark. I'll be right back!"

"Konichiwa, my favorite BAU baby girl's baby daddy," she greets him.
"Penelope, hey, sorry I missed your calls. I was in a meeting. What's wrong?" Mark asks.
"Uh, nothing's wrong but it's about to be if you don't get that sculpted booty on a plane right now," says the blonde.
"Hold up, what, why?" Mark asks obliviously.
"Emily's in labor, you gotta hurry," she says.
"Oh god, oh no, I told her I'd be back before...she's gonna kill me," Mark sighs.
"Not if you get here," Penelope says. "Since we checked in brunette baby girl's contractions haven't progressed and she's only about 6 centimeters. But you gotta go, now!"
She hangs up and heads back to her friend's bedside.

"He's on his way," Penelope tells Emily, which puts a smile on Emily's face.
"Nothing from JJ yet?" she confirms.
"Sorry, sweets. Not yet. They were on that stakeout, and with the storm, they might not have service. Hopefully she'll be back soon," Penelope assures.
"Uhhh, okay," Emily sighs. "How about Luke and Henry? Have you checked in with them?"
"Luke just texted me," Penelope smiles. "Henry went to bed like a perfect angel and is sleeping soundly. Luke cleaned your kitchen. Everything is fine."
"Oh, he so didn't have to do that. I can't imagine cleaning up his boss's amniotic fluid is what he had in mind for his evening," Emily cringes.
"Haha, trust me, it's not what we had in mind at all, but we wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Penelope exclaims jokingly.
"Penelope, you're the best. Thank you," Emily says while reaching for her friend's hand.

She breathes through another contraction.

6 minutes again.

"You've been at 6 minutes for a while now, huh?" Dr. Farrow asks as she examines the contraction monitor.
"Since my water broke, yes," Emily says.
"Okay, well, it's normal for the baby to stall, so don't worry, but maybe we can get you walking a bit to see if that helps," Dr. Farrow suggest.

"Yeah, c'mon, Em. Let's go for a walk," Penelope says, helping Emily remove the monitor and stand up from the bed.

"You can circle around the ward for a bit, if you'd like, just take this with you, hold it straight," Dr. Farrow says, unlatching the IV fluids from the hook and handing them to Penelope. "If you feel dizzy or faint, at all, tell Penelope immediately and the nurse will come help. It's almost midnight, so I am off for the night, but they'll call me back in if things progress before I'm back in at 8."

"Okay, thanks doc," Emily half smiles. Penelope grabs her freezing cold hand with her warm one and they start walking.

"How's that feel?" Penelope asks after they get out to the hallway.

"Uh, fine, we can keep going," Emily says. They begin a slow loop around the nursing station. "Soooo...you and Luke are finally doing it, huh?"

Penelope looks over at her silently with big eyes. "We...we haven't done...we just. He makes me dinner, sometimes. He's a good cook! Sergio likes him," she rants.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. I'm happy for you two. Luke's a great guy. And if Sergio likes him, you two are golden," Emily smiles.
"You really think so?" Penelope asks sweetly.
Emily nods back. "Of course."

Just as they are finishing they're second loop around the nurses station, Emily feels another contraction and stops in her tracks.
"What is it?" Penelope asks.
"Contraction," Emily grits her teeth. She puts one hand on the railing to brace herself.
"Here, squeeze as hard as you need to," Penelope says.
Emily squeezes, hard. She holds it and controls her breathing for the duration of the contraction. After it's over, she looks down at her wrist.

"Still around 6 minutes," she sighs.
Penelope shakes out her hand. "So, it must really hurt, huh?"
"Just a bit," Emily laughs.

Suddenly, Garcia's phone vibrates again. It's JJ.

"Hey, you, I've been trying to get a hold of one of you all night!" Penelope exclaims. "She's in labor...about 6 minutes...it's been that for a while now...sure, here she is." Penelope hands the phone over to Emily.

"JJ," Emily sighs. "Oh, it's so good to hear your voice."
"Why didn't you tell me something was off this morning? I could have come home," JJ says sternly.
"I didn't know for sure. Didn't want to worry you," Emily laughs at the irony.

"Well," JJ scoffs. "The storm is pretty bad, Em. But I'm gonna try to get a flight."

"Okay. I'm sorry," Emily pleads. "Please just get here."

"I'll try," JJ says before hanging up.